Daktari – The Complete First Season on DVD

An orphaned baby elephant? A lion with a brain tumor? Call Dr. Marsh Tracy! This lovingly remembered show from executive producer Ivan Tors (Sea Hunt, Flipper, Gentle Ben) stars Marshall Thompson as a dedicated veterinarian who runs an animal research center in Africa with the help of his daughter, two courageous aides, a mischievous chimp and a cross-eyed lion named Clarence. Action, laughs and breathtaking encounters with exotic animals highlight the 18 Episodes of the Complete Season One as Tracy and his crew handle everything from poachers to diamond thieves to a raging fire that threatens the nearby game preserve. “Daktari” means “doctor” in Swahili, but for viewers it means uplifting family fun!

Sounds pretty awesome right? Daktari was a kid’s focused drama series that aired on CBS between for 4 seasons between 1966 and 1969. At some point in the early 1980s they started re-airing this on some channel along with Flipper and I fell in love with it. High adventure and exotic animals in the wilds of Africa? What is not to love? Sadly the show went MIA for a couple of decades, but thanks to the tireless efforts of the folks at the Warner Archive, the show is back. Well at least the first season of the show is back and it looks and sounds great.